Astrology of Personality

by Dane Rudhyar

Book Overview

""The Astrology of Personality"" is a book written by Dane Rudhyar in 1936 that aims to reformulate the traditional concepts and ideals of astrology in terms of contemporary psychology and philosophy.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385066996
• ISBN13: 9780385066990
• Release Date: January 1970
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 500 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Had writing and highlight on some pages.

I never read the book. It was too old and had highlights in it and I think they need to check better.

Great questions, beginnings of answers

The fundamental thrust of this book is "what of Astrology given the advances in modern sciences and the crisis in Western spirituality?" Can Astrology be an empirical science? Can it be put into a positive and meaningful context in modern philosophy? What about modern psychology? These are promising questions. Most of Rudhyar's attempts, however, fall flat to some extent. What he ends up suggesting is that astrology is essentially a theory of personality and that this is its most important application. I am not entirely sure I agree with Rudhyar, but it is a reasonable view. The book is organized in two parts. The first is an exploration of what various philosophical ideas may apply to astrology and the second is an exploration of astrology as a theory of personality (or more broadly, an "algebra of life"). My approach would be very different from Rudhyar's view in that rather than working backwards from the present, I would likely work forward from early philosophical models. For example, in Timaeus, Plato offers a theory of astrology based on a common structure between the human spirit and the cosmos. As we move towards the present, there becomes an urge, which Rudhyar entertains, to try to place astrology and similar old traditions in the purview of scientific disciplines and psychological views. The result is that I found a lot of Rudhyar's approach somewhat less than satisfying. He tries to treat acausal principles as scientific, and almost treats the I Ching as a scientific treatise. Yet for all the problems, he asks the profound and difficult questions and it is likely that individuals reading the book will be challenged and urged to think about some of the issues themselves. As one can guess, this is not a beginning book on how to practice astrology. However, an urge to practice astrology is not needed to get something out of it. Generally recommended.

Flag book that open the door to Astro-Pschology

This book enlighten Astrology with the modern concept of Psychology with elements of both Western and Oriental Philosophies.